Microsoft MVP and MCT Roberto Corella Talks About OpenAI, ChatGPT, and Dynamics Business Central

In an era of relentless technological advancements, staying ahead of the curve is imperative for individuals and organizations. As we enter 2023, Microsoft technology beckons with exciting prospects and innovations.

At DynamicsSmartz, we invite leading industry professionals to speak on Microsoft Business Solutions and current technological trends for our segment, "Influencer Insights."

To shed light on the top Microsoft technology trends to watch out for in 2023, we sat down with Roberto Corella, a seasoned expert in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Let Us Quickly Get To Our Expert's Point Of View

Question 1- What, according to you, are some of the top Microsoft technology trends to watch out for in 2023?

In my opinion, 2023 will bring us extraordinary growth in Low-code/No-code development. We are experiencing many companies' digital transformation, and we lack developers. Microsoft knows it, Partners know it, and developers know it. We are in a world of immediacy. Customers want things quickly, but we need more resources. We must help train citizen developers. Users who know the business and, with a little help from technology, can build their apps, and Power Platform is helping us build those apps and make them accessible to those key users.

In the software segment for Small and Medium Businesses, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and I know all the products in the family, Microsoft is continually launching improvements and new features and is a Software as a Service, implemented immediately to the user. This entails significant challenges for application developers (ISVs) who must improve their CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous deployment) processes to keep up.

Finally, integration is and will be a trend. Microsoft is an ecosystem. It is not just one product; it is a range of products that can and should be integrated. Integrating Business Central, Power Apps, Power Automate, or Power BI means that developments must no longer be done in the ERP. But also integration with other products such as Microsoft Sales or Azure services, Teams, and Dataverse. Microsoft's purchase of OpenAI, we will see a lot of integration of all products with Artificial Intelligence.

Question 2: What are some opportunities you would be looking at next year?

There are great opportunities for integration with other Microsoft products—mainly Power Platform, but also with other products and manufacturers through connectors that are being offered.

On the other hand, artificial intelligence. Recently, we have seen many AI projects within Microsoft products (Creating a Power Automate flow in natural language, making an App from a drawing, etc.) With the purchase of a part of OpenAI and its already famous ChatGPT, we will see much more in this area.

Question 3: Would you like to share some Dynamics 365 Implementation/Migration tips?

The first tip is that you take a long time if you have not migrated. Microsoft is going very fast, and you are going to miss a lot of digitization opportunities.

On the other hand, before migrating, you must do a checking job. Do you use everything you currently have developed? Can it be replaced by things that are already developed? With almost 25 years working with Navision / Business Central, I have seen a lot of development atrocities. A good consultant must tell the client that it is better to adapt as much as possible to the standard or look for a collaboration with another specialized Partner in the sector that already has it developed. Or better, look for it in Microsoft's AppSource.

If you decide to migrate despite everything and not do a new implementation, you must do a very important code refactoring. What used to work on-premise, now in the cloud, may not work differently and lose performance and speed.

Question 4: What is the potential for Microsoft Partners in Spain?

Most of the Partners in Spain are aware of the Microsoft trend, which is why we have more and more clients in SaaS, more external developments with Power Apps, and we are making fewer and fewer reports in Business Central and more in Power BI.

There are still some misgivings about collaboration between partners. Are you sure that what your client requests still needs to be developed by another Partner? The client requires rapid implementations, so the sooner your solution is up and running, the better for everyone. Sure, as a Partner, you have a team of developers that can do it, but how long will it take? Will your client be willing to pay the price that it will cost you to develop it?

Partners can only have specialist teams in some areas of the Microsoft ecosystem. But take advantage of the opportunity to sell other products and collaborate. Let's take advantage of the trust that our client has in us to be able to supply other Microsoft products.

Question 5: How can we leverage Microsoft 365 and Power Apps for improved collaboration?

Of course, Microsoft 365 and Power Apps are improving collaboration. I believe that Microsoft Teams and its integration with all the elements of the board (people, applications, and data) is making collaboration easier and more fluid. Consulting a Business Central data from Teams or sharing a Power BI dashboard allows people from anywhere worldwide to collaborate much more effectively. The integration of applications, having data and Dataverse at the center, means that everyone has the same data without duplication and delays in the information. A few years ago, it was a dream.

Get to Know Our Influencer

What is the best event that you attended recently? What were your key takeaways?

I recently attended Directions 4 partners EMEA in Hamburg and shared with other colleagues the vision of Microsoft, which is fantastic. The key points were integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem (we are no longer talking about a single product; it is about combining all of them in the most efficient way possible). On the other hand, collaboration among all is essential in a partner event.

More locally, participation in BizzSummit ES is essential for the players of the Microsoft ecosystem in Spain, not only at a technical level but also at a business level. Seeing product news explained highly by fellow specialists is a privilege.

What's your success mantra?

Being in the world of technology, I think the most important mantra is “Always learning.” If you want to give the best service to your client, you must be open to learning every day. I keep studying, learning, and researching every day to have the widest possible knowledge and then decide what to use in each case.